{"id":35319,"date":"2024-10-31T16:40:18","date_gmt":"2024-10-31T20:40:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=35319"},"modified":"2024-10-31T16:40:20","modified_gmt":"2024-10-31T20:40:20","slug":"athletics-around-aurora-sports-shorts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/athletics-around-aurora-sports-shorts\/","title":{"rendered":"Athletics Around Aurora\u2014Sports Shorts"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

St. Maximilian Kolbe Mustangs capture YRAA Senior Girls Rugby 7\u2019s title in the \u201cBattle of Aurora\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an All-Aurora Rugby 7\u2019s championship game, the St. Maximilian Kolbe Mustangs defeated the Wildcats at Dr. G.W. Williams Secondary School on Wednesday afternoon.  The game was both a testament to Aurora\u2019s growing preeminence in York Region high school rugby and an indication of how the Barbarians have supplied a steady stream of quality players to the Town\u2019s high schools.  The SMK Mustangs\u2019 championship squad featured nine Aurora Barbarians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was Kolbe\u2019s second Girls\u2019 YRAA Rugby title in 2024.  The Mustangs captured the YRAA Varsity Girls Rugby 15\u2019s championship in June.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rugby Ontario names Barbarians\u2019 Co-President Khalil Ajram its 2024 Volunteer of the Year<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was a big week filled with positive news items for the Barbs.  The organization\u2019s Co-President of Rugby Operations Khalil Ajram was named Rugby Ontario\u2019s Volunteer of the Year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coach Khalil is a potent and positive force for the Aurora Barbarians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Barbs\u2019 Coach Marco Di Girolamo suits up for the Canadian Classics over-33\u2019s in Bermuda Tourney<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aurora resident Marco Di Girolamo announced his plans to return to the rugby pitch last week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Di Girolamo, who starred for Team Canada from 1999-2005 on the U17, U19, and U23 national squads, will suit up for the Canadian Classics\u2014a 25-man squad of over-33\u2019s competing in the 36th<\/sup> Annual Rugby Tournament in Bermuda.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Aurora Sports Hall of Famer, who was a significant starter for Team Ontario\u2019s U15, U17, and U19 squads on his way to the national team, explained his decision to return to on-field competition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere\u2019s always been a burning desire to achieve more than I can.  It\u2019s another opportunity to prove people wrong. Now that I\u2019m back, I realize how much I missed the camaraderie and the hitting.  Playing for the Classics gives me the opportunity to see guys I haven\u2019t seen for years and we\u2019ll just pick up where we left off.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Di Girolamo has been on a self-described \u201chiatus\u201d since 2015 when knee surgeries cut short his playing career. Consequently, he turned his attention to coaching the Aurora Barbarians.  His return to active play on the pitch will be another coaching strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cInstead of telling my players what to do, I will now be able to show them how to do it.  I\u2019m really happy that my own kids will be able to see me play, too.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Getting back on the pitch has been a laborious process for the 47-year-old, but he heaped praise on a local medical clinic for helping him prepare physically for the rigors of the Bermuda tournament next month:  \u201cDr. Gamble and the St. Andrew Chiropractic team keep putting me back together.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Canadian Classics\u2019 first opponent will be Ireland on November 2 and the tourney features international rugby powerhouses including the USA, Argentina, the UK, and South Africa. The Bermuda tournament concludes on November 9.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Jim Stewart<\/strong><\/p>\n\r\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

St. Maximilian Kolbe Mustangs capture YRAA Senior Girls Rugby 7\u2019s title in the \u201cBattle of Aurora\u201d In an All-Aurora Rugby 7\u2019s championship game, the St. Maximilian Kolbe Mustangs defeated the Wildcats at Dr. G.W. Williams Secondary School on Wednesday afternoon.  The game was both a testament to Aurora\u2019s growing preeminence in York Region high school […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[24,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35319","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-sports","category-sports"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-9bF","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-30 04:09:24","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35319","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35319"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35319\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35319"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35319"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35319"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}